NCHC PDF

Phase 1 Systems Planning
Case Studies 43
Case Studies
Case studies allow you to practice specific skills learned in the chapter. Each chapter contains
several case studies that continue throughout the textbook, and a chapter capstone case.
New Century Health Clinic

New Century Health Clinic offers preventive medicine and traditional medical care. In your
role as an IT consultant, you will help New Century develop a new information system.
Background
Five years ago, cardiologists Timothy Jones and Dolores Garcia decided to combine their
individual practices in Brea, California, to form New Century Health Clinic. They wanted to
concentrate on preventive medicine by helping patients maintain health and fitness and by
providing traditional medical care. Dr. Jones recently asked you to work with him as an IT
consultant. He wants you to help New Century develop an information system that will
support the clinic’s operations and future growth. At your initial meeting, he provided you
with some background information and asked for your suggestions about how to begin.
At your desk, you begin to review New Century’s situation. The clinic is located near a
new shopping mall in a busy section of the city. New Century’s staff includes four doctors,
three registered nurses, four physical therapists, and six office staff workers. The clinic cur-
rently has a patient base of 3,500 patients from 275 different employers, many of which
provide insurance coverage for employee wellness and health maintenance. Currently, New
Century accepts 34 different insurance policies.
Anita Davenport, who has been with New Century since its inception, is the office manager.
She supervises the staff, including Fred Brown, Susan Gifford, Tom Capaletti, Lisa Sung, and
Carla Herrera. Fred Brown handles office payroll, tax reporting, and profit distribution among
the associates. Susan Gifford is responsible for the maintenance of patient records. Tom
Capaletti handles most of the paperwork concerning insurance reporting and accounting. Lisa
Sung has the primary responsibility for the appointment book, and her duties include making
reminder calls to patients and preparing daily appointment lists. Carla Herrera is concerned
primarily with ordering and organizing office and clinic supplies.
Each of the six office staff people has one or more primary responsibilities; however, all
members of the staff help out whenever necessary with patient records, insurance processing,
and appointment processing. In addition to their regular responsibilities, all six office work-
ers are involved in the preparation of patient statements at the end of each month.
Using this information, you begin to prepare for your next meeting with Dr. Jones.
Assignments
1. Create an organization chart of the office staff using Microsoft Word or a similar
program, or you can draw it by hand. In Word 2010 and Word 2007, click the Insert
tab on the Ribbon, then Smart Art, then Hierarchy.
2. Identify at least three business processes that New Century performs, and explain
who is responsible for the specific tasks.
3. Explain how New Century might use a transaction processing system, a business
support system, and a user productivity system. For each type of system, provide a
specific example, and explain how the system would benefit the clinic.
4. During the systems development process, should New Century consider any of
the following: B2B, vertical and horizontal system packages, or Internet-based
solutions? Explain your answers.
Case Studies 89
Case Studies
NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC

Background
New Century Health Clinic’s office manager, Anita Davenport, recently asked permission
to hire an additional office clerk because she feels the current staff can no longer handle the
growing workload. The associates discussed Anita’s request during a recent meeting. They
were not surprised that the office staff was feeling overwhelmed by the constantly growing
workload.
Because the clinic was busier and more profitable than ever, they all agreed that New
Century could afford to hire another office worker. Dr. Jones then came up with another
idea. He suggested that they investigate the possibility of computerizing New Century’s
office systems. Dr. Jones said that a computerized system could keep track of patients,
appointments, charges, and insurance claim processing and reduce paperwork. All the asso-
ciates were enthusiastic about the possibilities and voted to follow up on the suggestion.
Dr. Jones agreed to direct the project.
Because no member of the staff had computer experience, Dr. Jones decided to hire a
consultant to study the current office systems and recommend a course of action. Several
friends recommended you as a person who has considerable experience with computerized
business applications.
Assignments
1. Dr. Jones has arranged an introductory meeting between the associates of New
Century Health Clinic and you to determine if mutual interest exists in pursuing the
project. What should the associates try to learn about you? What should you try to
learn in this meeting?
2. Does the proposed system present a strong business case? Why or why not?
3. For each type of feasibility, prepare at least two questions that will help you reach a
feasibility determination.
4. You begin the preliminary investigation. What information is needed? From whom
will you obtain it? What techniques will you use in your fact-finding?
PERSONAL TRAINER, INC.

Personal Trainer, Inc., owns and operates fitness centers in a dozen midwestern cities. The
centers have done well, and the company is planning an international expansion by opening
a new “supercenter” in the Toronto area. Personal Trainer’s president, Cassia Umi, hired an
IT consultant, Susan Park, to help develop an information system for the new facility.
During the project, Susan will work closely with Gray Lewis, who will manage the new
operation.
Background
At their initial meeting, Susan and Gray discussed some initial steps in planning a new
information system for the new facility. The next morning, they worked together on a
business profile, drew an organization chart, discussed feasibility issues, and talked about
Case Studies 133
Case Studies

Background
To ensure the quality, cost, and timeliness of the new information system, New Century
is considering a project management approach. To obtain a better understanding of project
management, Dr. Jones contacted Precision Planning, a consulting firm that specializes in
managing projects of this type. He invited the company to deliver a brief presentation on
project management concepts and advantages, and to submit a proposal for project man-
agement consulting services.
You joined Precision Planning two years ago as a project assistant, after working two
summers as a student intern. Your supervisor, Charlie West, asked you to develop the pre-
sentation for New Century and you are excited about the opportunity. Charlie said that the
main objective is to provide a clear, informative presentation.
Charlie wants you to include the following topics in your presentation: an overview of
project management and its history, a description of the process, and an explanation of the
most important terms and concepts. Charlie also wants you to describe task identification,
various types of relationships among tasks, and schedule development. He says you should
show how Gantt and PERT/CPM charts are developed, and how they can be used to plan,
track, and control projects. Charlie also said that your presentation should include a specific
example to illustrate all the main points.
Assignments
1. Create a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that will meet the requirements that
Charlie outlined to you.
2. Create a Microsoft Word handout that will meet the requirements that Charlie out-
lined to you.
3. Create a project management example with at least six tasks. Assign durations and
task dependencies. At least three of the tasks should be dependent on other tasks.
Use this example to display a Gantt chart.
4. Use the same data as Assignment 3 to display a PERT/CPM chart.

Personal Trainer, Inc. owns and operates fitness centers in a dozen Midwestern cities. The
operation.
Background
You are enjoying your job as a student intern at Personal Trainer. Last week, Susan
asked you to help her plan the new information system project. Susan knows that you
have completed several information systems courses at the local college, and that you have
studied project management tools and techniques.
Phase 2 Systems Analysis
Case Studies 183
Case Studies
Case studies allow you to practice specific skills learned in the chapter. Each chapter contains several
case studies that continue throughout the textbook, and a chapter capstone case.

Background
New Century Health Clinic has decided to computerize its office systems. The associates
hired you, a local computer consultant, to perform a preliminary investigation. You had sev-
eral meetings with Dr. Tim Jones to discuss the various office records and accounting sys-
tems. Anita Davenport, New Century’s office manager, participated in those meetings.
In a report to the associates at the end of your investigation, you recommended conducting a
detailed analysis of the patient record system, the patient and insurance billing systems, and the
patient scheduling system. You believe that New Century would benefit most from implementing
those three systems. Although the systems could be developed independently, you recommended
analyzing all three systems together because of the significant interaction among them.
You presented your findings and recommendations at a late afternoon meeting of the
associates. After answering several questions, you left the meeting so they could discuss the
matter privately. Dr. Jones began the discussion by stating that he was impressed with your
knowledge and professionalism, as well as your report and presentation.
Dr. Jones recommended accepting your proposal and hiring you immediately to conduct
the systems analysis phase. Dr. Garcia, however, was not as enthusiastic and pointed out that
such a study would certainly disrupt office procedures. The staff already had more work than
they could handle, she argued, and taking time to answer your questions would only make the
situation worse. Dr. Jones countered that the office workload was going to increase in any
event, and that it was important to find a long-term solution to the problem. After some addi-
tional discussion, Dr. Garcia finally agreed with Dr. Jones’s assessment. The next morning, Dr.
Jones called you and asked you to go ahead with the systems analysis phase of the project.
Assignments
1. Review the office organization chart you prepared in Chapter 1 for New Century.
2. List the individuals you would like to interview during the systems analysis phase.
3. Prepare a list of objectives for each of the interviews you will conduct.
4. Prepare a list of specific questions for each individual you will interview.
5. Conduct the interviews. (Consult your instructor regarding how to accomplish this.
One possibility is through role-playing.)
6. Prepare a written summary of the information gained from each of the interviews.
(Your instructor may want you to use a standard set of interview results.)
7. Design a questionnaire that will go to a sample of New Century patients to find out
if they were satisfied with current insurance and scheduling procedures. Your ques-
tionnaire should follow the suggestions in this chapter. Also, decide what sampling
method you will use and explain the reason for your choice.
Case Studies 239
Case Studies

Background
You began the systems analysis phase at New Century Health Clinic by completing a
series of interviews, reviewing existing reports, and observing office operations. (Your
instructor may provide you with a sample set of interview summaries.)
As you learned, the doctors, nurses, and physical therapists provide services and perform
various medical procedures. All procedures are coded according to Current Procedure
Terminology, which is published by the American Medical Association. The procedure codes
consist of five numeric digits and a two-digit suffix, and are used for all billing and insur-
ance claims.
From your fact-finding, you determined that seven reports are required at the clinic. The
first report is the daily appointment list for each provider. The list shows all scheduled
appointment times, patient names, and services to be performed, including the procedure
code and description. A second daily report is the call list, which shows the patients who are
to be reminded of their next day’s appointments. The call list includes the patient name, tele-
phone number, appointment time, and provider name. The third report is the weekly pro-
vider report that lists each of the providers and the weekly charges generated, plus a
month-to-date (MTD) and a year-to-date (YTD) summary.
The fourth report is the statement — a preprinted form that is produced monthly and
mailed in a window envelope. Statement header information includes the statement date,
head of household name and address, the previous month’s balance, the total household
charges MTD, the total payments MTD, and the current balance. The bottom section of the
statement lists all activity for the month in date order. For each service performed, a line
shows the patient’s name, the service date, the procedure code and description, and the
charge. The statement also shows the date and amount of all payments and insurance claims.
When an insurance payment is received, the source and amount are noted on the form. If the
claim is denied or only partially paid, a code is used to explain the reason. A running bal-
ance appears at the far right of each activity line.
The associates also require two insurance reports: the weekly Insurance Company Report
and the monthly Claim Status Summary. In addition to these six reports, the office staff
would like to have mailing labels and computer-generated postcards for sending reminders
to patients when it is time to schedule their next appointment. Reminders usually are mailed
twice monthly. Now you are ready to organize the facts you gathered and prepare a system
requirements document that represents a logical model of the proposed system. Your tools
will include DFDs, a data dictionary, and process descriptions.
Assignments
1. Prepare a context diagram for New Century’s information system.
2. Prepare a diagram 0 DFD for New Century. Be sure to show numbered processes
for handling appointment processing, payment and insurance processing, report
processing, and records maintenance. Also, prepare lower-level DFDs for each num-
bered process.
Chapter 5 Data and Process Modeling
240 Case Studies
3. Prepare a list of data stores and data flows needed for the system. Under each data
store, list the data elements required.
4. Prepare a data dictionary entry and process description for one of the system’s
functional primitives.

Personal Trainer, Inc., owns and operates fitness centers in a dozen Midwestern cities. The
operation.
Background
Susan Park has completed a preliminary investigation and performed the fact-finding
tasks that were described in Chapters 2 and 4. Now, she will use the results to develop a
logical model of the proposed information system.
Assignments
Before you perform the following tasks, you should review the information provided in
Chapters 2 and 4 of the case.
1. Prepare a context diagram for the new system.
2. Prepare a diagram 0 DFD for the new system.
3. Write a brief memo that explains the importance of leveling a set of DFDs.
4. Write a brief memo that explains the importance of balancing a set of DFDs.
Case Studies 275
Case Studies
Case studies allow you to practice specific skills learned in the chapter. Each chapter contains sev-
eral case studies that continue throughout the textbook, and a chapter capstone case.

Background
You began the systems analysis phase at New Century Health Clinic by completing a
series of interviews, reviewing existing reports, and observing office operations. Then, in
Chapter 5, you acquired more information and developed a set of DFDs, process descrip-
tions, and a data dictionary.
Now you decide to practice the object modeling skills you learned in this chapter. Before you
begin, go back to Chapter 5 and review the New Century background material and fact-finding
results. Also, your instructor may provide you with a complete set of interview summaries
that you can use to perform your assignments. Then complete the following tasks.
Assignments
1. Identify possible use cases and actors, and create a use case diagram for the New
Century Health Clinic system.
2. Select one of the use cases and create a class diagram.
3. Create a sequence diagram for the use case that you selected.
4. Create a state transition diagram that describes typical patient states and how they
change based on specific actions and events.

Personal Trainer, Inc., owns and operates fitness centers in a dozen Midwestern cities. The
operation.
Background
Working as an IT consultant for Personal Trainer, Susan Park used data and process
modeling tools to create a logical model of the proposed information system. Now she
wants to build an object-oriented view of the system using O-O tools and techniques.
Assignments
Before you perform the following tasks, you should review the information and back-
ground in Chapters 1 and 2, and the fact-finding summary of the case provided in Chapter 4.
1. Identify possible use cases and actors, and create a use case diagram for the Personal
Trainer information system.
2. Select one of the use cases and create a class diagram.
3. Create an object relationship diagram for the system.
4. Create a state transition diagram that describes typical member states and how they
change based on specific actions and events.
Case Studies 43
Case Studies

Background
Five years ago, cardiologists Timothy Jones and Dolores Garcia decided to combine their
individual practices in Brea, California, to form New Century Health Clinic. They wanted to
concentrate on preventive medicine by helping patients maintain health and fitness and by
providing traditional medical care. Dr. Jones recently asked you to work with him as an IT
consultant. He wants you to help New Century develop an information system that will
support the clinic’s operations and future growth. At your initial meeting, he provided you
with some background information and asked for your suggestions about how to begin.
At your desk, you begin to review New Century’s situation. The clinic is located near a
new shopping mall in a busy section of the city. New Century’s staff includes four doctors,
three registered nurses, four physical therapists, and six office staff workers. The clinic cur-
rently has a patient base of 3,500 patients from 275 different employers, many of which
provide insurance coverage for employee wellness and health maintenance. Currently, New
Century accepts 34 different insurance policies.
Anita Davenport, who has been with New Century since its inception, is the office manager.
She supervises the staff, including Fred Brown, Susan Gifford, Tom Capaletti, Lisa Sung, and
Carla Herrera. Fred Brown handles office payroll, tax reporting, and profit distribution among
the associates. Susan Gifford is responsible for the maintenance of patient records. Tom
Capaletti handles most of the paperwork concerning insurance reporting and accounting. Lisa
Sung has the primary responsibility for the appointment book, and her duties include making
reminder calls to patients and preparing daily appointment lists. Carla Herrera is concerned
primarily with ordering and organizing office and clinic supplies.
Each of the six office staff people has one or more primary responsibilities; however, all
members of the staff help out whenever necessary with patient records, insurance processing,
and appointment processing. In addition to their regular responsibilities, all six office work-
ers are involved in the preparation of patient statements at the end of each month.
Using this information, you begin to prepare for your next meeting with Dr. Jones.
Assignments
1. Create an organization chart of the office staff using Microsoft Word or a similar
program, or you can draw it by hand. In Word 2010 and Word 2007, click the Insert
tab on the Ribbon, then Smart Art, then Hierarchy.
2. Identify at least three business processes that New Century performs, and explain
who is responsible for the specific tasks.
3. Explain how New Century might use a transaction processing system, a business
support system, and a user productivity system. For each type of system, provide a
specific example, and explain how the system would benefit the clinic.
4. During the systems development process, should New Century consider any of
the following: B2B, vertical and horizontal system packages, or Internet-based
solutions? Explain your answers.
Case Studies 89
Case Studies

Background
New Century Health Clinic’s office manager, Anita Davenport, recently asked permission
to hire an additional office clerk because she feels the current staff can no longer handle the
growing workload. The associates discussed Anita’s request during a recent meeting. They
were not surprised that the office staff was feeling overwhelmed by the constantly growing
workload.
Because the clinic was busier and more profitable than ever, they all agreed that New
Century could afford to hire another office worker. Dr. Jones then came up with another
idea. He suggested that they investigate the possibility of computerizing New Century’s
office systems. Dr. Jones said that a computerized system could keep track of patients,
appointments, charges, and insurance claim processing and reduce paperwork. All the asso-
ciates were enthusiastic about the possibilities and voted to follow up on the suggestion.
Dr. Jones agreed to direct the project.
Because no member of the staff had computer experience, Dr. Jones decided to hire a
consultant to study the current office systems and recommend a course of action. Several
friends recommended you as a person who has considerable experience with computerized
business applications.
Assignments
1. Dr. Jones has arranged an introductory meeting between the associates of New
Century Health Clinic and you to determine if mutual interest exists in pursuing the
project. What should the associates try to learn about you? What should you try to
learn in this meeting?
2. Does the proposed system present a strong business case? Why or why not?
3. For each type of feasibility, prepare at least two questions that will help you reach a
feasibility determination.
4. You begin the preliminary investigation. What information is needed? From whom
will you obtain it? What techniques will you use in your fact-finding?

Personal Trainer, Inc., owns and operates fitness centers in a dozen midwestern cities. The
operation.
Background
At their initial meeting, Susan and Gray discussed some initial steps in planning a new
information system for the new facility. The next morning, they worked together on a
business profile, drew an organization chart, discussed feasibility issues, and talked about
Case Studies 133
Case Studies

Background
To ensure the quality, cost, and timeliness of the new information system, New Century
is considering a project management approach. To obtain a better understanding of project
management, Dr. Jones contacted Precision Planning, a consulting firm that specializes in
managing projects of this type. He invited the company to deliver a brief presentation on
project management concepts and advantages, and to submit a proposal for project man-
agement consulting services.
You joined Precision Planning two years ago as a project assistant, after working two
summers as a student intern. Your supervisor, Charlie West, asked you to develop the pre-
sentation for New Century and you are excited about the opportunity. Charlie said that the
main objective is to provide a clear, informative presentation.
Charlie wants you to include the following topics in your presentation: an overview of
project management and its history, a description of the process, and an explanation of the
most important terms and concepts. Charlie also wants you to describe task identification,
various types of relationships among tasks, and schedule development. He says you should
show how Gantt and PERT/CPM charts are developed, and how they can be used to plan,
track, and control projects. Charlie also said that your presentation should include a specific
example to illustrate all the main points.
Assignments
1. Create a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation that will meet the requirements that
Charlie outlined to you.
2. Create a Microsoft Word handout that will meet the requirements that Charlie out-
lined to you.
3. Create a project management example with at least six tasks. Assign durations and
task dependencies. At least three of the tasks should be dependent on other tasks.
Use this example to display a Gantt chart.
4. Use the same data as Assignment 3 to display a PERT/CPM chart.

Personal Trainer, Inc. owns and operates fitness centers in a dozen Midwestern cities. The
operation.
Background
You are enjoying your job as a student intern at Personal Trainer. Last week, Susan
asked you to help her plan the new information system project. Susan knows that you
have completed several information systems courses at the local college, and that you have
studied project management tools and techniques.
Case Studies 183
Case Studies
Case studies allow you to practice specific skills learned in the chapter. Each chapter contains several
case studies that continue throughout the textbook, and a chapter capstone case.

Background
New Century Health Clinic has decided to computerize its office systems. The associates
hired you, a local computer consultant, to perform a preliminary investigation. You had sev-
eral meetings with Dr. Tim Jones to discuss the various office records and accounting sys-
tems. Anita Davenport, New Century’s office manager, participated in those meetings.
In a report to the associates at the end of your investigation, you recommended conducting a
detailed analysis of the patient record system, the patient and insurance billing systems, and the
patient scheduling system. You believe that New Century would benefit most from implementing
those three systems. Although the systems could be developed independently, you recommended
analyzing all three systems together because of the significant interaction among them.
You presented your findings and recommendations at a late afternoon meeting of the
associates. After answering several questions, you left the meeting so they could discuss the
matter privately. Dr. Jones began the discussion by stating that he was impressed with your
knowledge and professionalism, as well as your report and presentation.
Dr. Jones recommended accepting your proposal and hiring you immediately to conduct
the systems analysis phase. Dr. Garcia, however, was not as enthusiastic and pointed out that
such a study would certainly disrupt office procedures. The staff already had more work than
they could handle, she argued, and taking time to answer your questions would only make the
situation worse. Dr. Jones countered that the office workload was going to increase in any
event, and that it was important to find a long-term solution to the problem. After some addi-
tional discussion, Dr. Garcia finally agreed with Dr. Jones’s assessment. The next morning, Dr.
Jones called you and asked you to go ahead with the systems analysis phase of the project.
Assignments
1. Review the office organization chart you prepared in Chapter 1 for New Century.
2. List the individuals you would like to interview during the systems analysis phase.
3. Prepare a list of objectives for each of the interviews you will conduct.
4. Prepare a list of specific questions for each individual you will interview.
5. Conduct the interviews. (Consult your instructor regarding how to accomplish this.
One possibility is through role-playing.)
6. Prepare a written summary of the information gained from each of the interviews.
(Your instructor may want you to use a standard set of interview results.)
7. Design a questionnaire that will go to a sample of New Century patients to find out
if they were satisfied with current insurance and scheduling procedures. Your ques-
tionnaire should follow the suggestions in this chapter. Also, decide what sampling
method you will use and explain the reason for your choice.

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Phase 1 Systems Planning

New Century Health Clinic

NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC

PERSONAL TRAINER, INC.

NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC

PERSONAL TRAINER, INC.

NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC

Case Studies 239

New Century Health Clinic

PERSONAL TRAINER, INC.

Case Studies 275

New Century Health Clinic

PERSONAL TRAINER, INC.

New Century Health Clinic

NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC

PERSONAL TRAINER, INC.

NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC

PERSONAL TRAINER, INC.

NEW CENTURY HEALTH CLINIC

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